We have established a strong reputation for delivering high quality, large scale, national skills development programmes for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. From outdoor learning and online safety to money management and mental health, we reach and engage young people who don’t traditionally have access to personal development opportunities.
Community Food Champions
Community Food Champions (CFC) is designed to empower young people to be at the forefront of challenging the food environment in their local area. It supports youth workers to work with young people to identify the food-related issues in their local community and to consider what changes they would like to see. As a group, young people are encouraged to create a social action project, aimed at tackling one issue, and are connected with various local stakeholders, such as political and business owners, who can support them to achieve their campaign goals.
Thriving Minds
Responding to the growing youth mental health crisis, the UK Youth Fund – Thriving Minds will see a £10 million investment by Julia and Hans Rausing channelled into youth work to support young people.
This fund represents youth work coming to the table to tackle mental health – this is about positioning youth work as part of the solution to a crisis in youth mental health, signalling our future commitment to this area and recognising the role of youth work in building better support systems for young people in the UK.
An innovative funding model, which responds directly to need, will see the charity working closely with grantees throughout the three-year period to develop both partnership and capacity building capabilities alongside vital grants. This will ensure they have access to professional development and youth development content, enabling them to provide access to high-quality youth work in their communities and improve young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
EmpowHER Legacy
The EmpowHER Legacy was inspired by the EmpowHER programme which was led by UK Youth in partnership with the British Red Cross and Young Women’s Trust, EmpowHER addressed the worryingly low levels of wellbeing amongst young women and girls in the UK and supported over 1800 young women to give back to their local communities through inclusive and meaningful social action opportunities. Launched to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage, the programme encouraged young women and girls to use their voices for positive change – just as their predecessors did 100 years ago.
EmpowHER Legacy is a 2-year programme, funded by SPIRIT of 2012, and delivered by UK Youth in partnership with 52 English delivery partners across England. It’s a multi-strand approach that aims is to transform the way we embed key learnings and best practice established by the EmpowHER programme in the youth sector. This allows youth organisations the flexibility to engage, scale and sustain EmpowHER best practices in the way that suits them best. The programme involves delivery of three strands designed to test methods for embedding best practice in sustainability of EmpowHER principles.
FutureProof
FutureProof safeguards young people by equipping them with the critical thinking skills needed to stay safe. Our innovative programme, funded by the Monday Charitable Trust, strengthens local youth services and upskills youth workers to better support young people to stay safe, cope with uncertainty and build vital life skills.
FutureProof empowers youth workers to support the changing needs of young people and identify risks young people might experience such as poor mental health, online safety concerns and grooming risks.
Inspire 2022
Taking inspiration from the tenth anniversary of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Inspire 2022 is youth-led events-based social action programme which will use national events as a springboard for young people to design positive activities for their own communities, bridging community divides and giving young people a voice in a year of national celebration. It is delivered by UK Youth in partnership with British Red Cross, Youth Action Northern Ireland, Youth Cymru, Youth Scotland and regional youth organisations who support young people in their local communities. It is funded by £1.2m from Spirit of 2012 and £500,000 from the #iwill Fund (a joint investment between The National Lottery Community Fund and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), and designed in partnership with Local Trust.
Your Space
Your Space is a detached youth work initiative which reaches vulnerable or disadvantaged young people on their own terms, at a time and in a space which works for them. This pilot programme funded by The Clothworkers’ Foundation targets local areas where young people are exposed to extreme risks such as serious violence, gang affiliation, grooming and drug and alcohol abuse.
Your Space develops local partnerships, with key community agencies to create collaborative solutions and find innovative ways to meet the needs of young people, working with them on their terms, so they have equal say and can participate meaningfully in the support they receive.
UK Youth Achievement Awards
The UK Youth Achievement Awards (UKYAAs) champion a plan, do, review model to provide a unique framework that can be tailored to almost any activity, helping to engage a range of young people. The awards serve to offer formal recognition of young people’s achievements and accreditation for their work.
There are five award levels; with Bronze and above being accredited by ASDAN. Young people can work their way up through the awards or enter at the most relevant point:
- Challenge – entry level introduction to the UKYAAs (not accredited by ASDAN)
- Bronze – taking part and getting involved
- Silver – helping to organise
- Gold – planning and leading
- Platinum – taking a full leadership role, with an element of training
Each level of the award connects to a different point on the UK Youth Social Development Journey and represents different levels of participation. Through the UKYAAs, young people will gain vital life skills and become motivated, self-aware, receptive, resilient, responsible, confident and good communicators.
If you would like any more information on the UKYAAs, please fill in this form:
Awards Registration FormHatch
An employability programme for NEET young people, which aims to provide them with the essential skills needed for employment and real-life experience through a 4-week work experience programme. The programme includes a series of workshops delivered by youth workers, which will prepare young people for the level of engagement/commitment during work experience. This is then followed by four weeks of work experience at their chosen location.
No Limits
Each Youth Centre will be provided with a ‘Tech Pack’ that will help inspire young people to discover new passions, develop new skills and embrace new ambitions through creativity.
The tech given will cover areas such as gaming (Esports and game design), photography, content creation and podcasts.
The aim is to inspire everyone at youth centres across the UK that there are no limits to ambition, opportunities and how young people can express themselves creatively.
Building Connections
Developed through the learning taken from the Reach Up programme (2017-2022), Building Connections is an investment in youth work to create stronger pathways to employment for young people.
In partnership with Cocal Cola Europacific Partners, UK Youth is building the capacity of youth workers as Community Link Workers, supporting them to build partnerships and networks with local businesses and employers and turning those connections into opportunities for young people.
Young Changemakers
A programme by UK Youth, Centre for Mental Health and The Diana Award aiming to reimagine mental health support for young people from racialised communities. The project is led by young co-producers aged 16-25 with a passion for/or lived experience of mental health issues and racial injustices.
